White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Thursday defended the idea of taking away guaranteed maternity coverage in health insurance, denying that it would mean women must pay relatively more for their health care. Today, all policies include maternity, along with coverage of mental health care, habilitative care, and prescriptions ― three benefits that, previously, insurers frequently did not. But a reporter asked Spicer the natural follow-up: If eliminating maternity coverage will reduce premiums overall, won’t it also mean higher costs for people who actually need the care? One that includes maternity coverage as a special addition? Either way, absent a guarantee of maternity coverage, most insurers will not offer it or charge extra for it ― which, in either case, means the people who want it would have to pay more.

Source: Huffington Post March 23, 2017 20:03 UTC